Chinese diplomats kicked out from Lithuania as relations hit new low

Lithuania made a bold-move last friday kicking out three chinese diplomats from its Office of the Charge dʼAffaires without giving clear reasons (just pointing to the Vienna Convention rules)

The asian nationʼs foreign ministry hit back hard: “We dont accept this move and will take counter-steps“ said Wang Yiʼs office in a short-but-firm statement. The baltic country broke international rules by not explaining its decision; which makes things worse in already not-so-good relations

The whole story goes back to late-21 when Lithuania let Taiwan open its quasi-embassy — a move that made Beijing really un-happy. Since then the two countries relations went down-hill fast:

• China cut its diplomatic ties
• Lithuania pulled back its ambassador
• Trade links between nations got worse
• Beijing pushed other companies to stop working with Lithuania

Xi Jinpingʼs government keeps saying that Taiwan is part of China and no other country should treat it like its own state. “Lithuania broke the one-China rule and didnt keep its promises from when we first became friends“ the ministry noted; pointing out how things got worse in these past 3 years

The small baltic state of about 3 million people follows most world countries position: it sees that China thinks Taiwan belongs to it but doesnt have full diplomatic ties with the island